LATEST ADDITIONS

Like life, audiophilia often takes unexpected turns. A while back, I happily put my turntable and records on ice, for much of the 1990s and the first part of the current century. Yet lately I find myself further down the phonography rabbit hole than I have been in decades.

Most of us, most of the time, live in the world of good enough. On a Saturday, we might drive our Ford Fiesta to pick up a polo shirt at Banana Republic, then dine at Outback Steakhouse, and later get ready for bed with a mug of Celestial Seasonings Caramel Apple Dream tea while watching an episode of Hoarder House Flippers.

I was walking with my neighbor, guide, old friend, and fabled "blue saloon" limo driver Beau Ranheim when I heard a shout from afar. It was Todd Garfinkle of M•A Recordings. "Hey Herb! Are you ready to go to Japan?"

Founded in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1972, Linn Products Limited is in an elite club whose members have been around for 50 years or more. You're doing some things right if you can prosper in the quirky audiophile marketplace for more than 50 years.

One of audio's great legacy brands, Wharfedale got its start in 1932 when founder Gilbert Briggs built his first loudspeaker in the basement of his Ilkley, Yorkshire, home. The landscape in the valley of the River Wharfe lent the fledgling company its name, and Wharfedale Wireless Works was born.

Stereophile has a new owner. Who is it? It's Stereophile. For 27 years, Stereophile has been led on the business side by Keith Pray. This spring, Keith formed a new company, Pray Media Holdings, for the express purpose of buying Stereophile and related titles.

Holst: The Planets, Bax: Tintagel, London Symphony Orchestra, Tenebrae/Sir Antonio Pappano; Brahms: The Three Violin Sonatas, Andrew Wan, Charles Richard-Hamelin; Jonas Kaufmann: Magische Töne, Jonas Kaufmann, Nikola Hillebrand, Hungarian State Opera Orchestra/Dirk Kaftan; Rachmaninoff: The Bells; Symphonic Dances, Kristina Mkhitaryan, Dmytro Popov, Alexander Vinogradov, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and Choir/Karina Canellakis.